Whispers of the Past
by Nabi-san
Summary: The previous generation of ninja, followed from the view of one team consisting of three strong individuals. Triumphs, error, and love triangles ensue, not to mention hilarity! Slightly AU.


**Disclaimer:** Nabi-san does not own Naruto! If she did, she'd have not killed some of her favorite characters! If you read the manga, you probably know who I'm talking about.

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**Prologue: Let's do the Time Warp Again**

_We all know the story of Naruto. A twelve year old boy with the Kyuubi sealed inside of him training to become Konoha's strongest ninja. He has friends, just like everyone else- a whole generation of shinobi stands by his side._

_However, what we don't know is the history behind them. Their parents. Sure we have speculations. Wild guesses. But we have never really known the history of Konohagakure no Sato._

_Our story begins about twenty years before Naruto's own graduation. The faces of the children all seem familiar…_

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Sachi Haruno sat quietly in her desk, trying to calm herself down. _"Okay… you can do this. It's just a simple exam, right? Nothing can go wrong. I can graduate…"_ She thought to herself, brushing a cotton-candy pink bang out of her emerald green eyes. She was currently focusing on passing the Genin exam. And Taiboku-sensei was usually ruthless. 

The young kounichi's thoughts trailed to her entire class, a very prospective group of about thirteen students. There were the Hyuuga twins, Hizashi and Hiashi, both of whom were excellent in their clan's jutsus. Fugaku Uchiha, the class heartthrob, was also quite an excellent shinobi. There was a quiet Aburame named Shibi, along with a loud, boisterous, wild looking girl called Tsume. She carried around a small black puppy with her everywhere. Three boys who were always causing trouble stood out as well: Inoichi Yamanaka, a some-what tall, blonde boy who was quite a smooth talker; Choza Akamitchi, a pudgy boy with brown hair who was constantly eating something; and Shikaku Nara, a lazy boy who claimed that 'girls were too troublesome'.

"_Speaking of which…"_ Sachi thought, turning her emerald eyes to two other girls who were talking excitedly. _"I hope Mikoto and Ayane don't get assigned to Fugaku's team. I want to be with him!"_ She glared competitively at the smiling raven-haired woman and the thin, blonde girl.

"Hey! Watch it!" Someone yelled out. She recognized it as Koza, a loud-mouthed boy not from any prominent family, much like herself. He was short, kinda plain, and had a habit of picking on the youngest kid in the class- Arashi Uzumaki.

"I'm sorry… I just didn't see you there. I think your ugliness blinded me." The small blonde boy replied, giving a large grin before he was pushed backwards into a desk, landing in front of Tsume. She immediately jumped up, fist raised at Koza.

"Hey! Watch it! You could've hurt Kuromaru!" She yelled at him, only to have Arashi grin at her.

"Don't worry, Tsume-san! I wouldn't hurt Kuromaru." He slowly slid off the desk, his smiling face holding a bit of malice. "However, Koza is another story." With that, he lunged at the older boy, causing a fistfight that threatened to send them falling down the narrow steps. Sachi was about to get out of her seat to break it up with a stern, quiet voice came from the doorway.

"Hey." The new voice said quietly as a large figure looked up from the shadow of the doorway. "You two could be automatically failed for fighting in the class." The young man stepped into the light, revealing a tall boy of about fifteen. His white-gray hair was cut in an unruly manner so that the bangs fell into his small black eyes. The rest of his face was covered by a dark mask, which matched his dark clothing.

"Oh, yeah? Who're you?" Koza asked, looking up from where he was sitting. He had Arashi pinned to the ground, fist slightly raised to punch him in the face. She was pretty sure that the blonde boy was going to have a couple of bruises tomorrow. His blue eyes looked up to the new stranger, and instantly shined with a light that could only mean idolization.

"My name is none of your business. However, the welfare of this class is. Now, are you going to get off him, or shall I make you?" The white-haired stranger asked, giving Koza a small grin. Or, at least, she thought he gave Koza a grin. She wasn't quite sure.

Koza gulped nervously as he slowly stood up, walking back to his seat. Arashi gave the strange shinobi boy a thankful grin before he trotted over to take a seat next to Sachi. By the time she blinked, he was gone. The mysterious older boy had disappeared.

Twenty minutes or so passed before Boku-sensei came out of the back room. He shuffled to the front of his desk slowly, clearing his throat loudly to draw everyone's attention to him. He was old, close to seventy, and very sour looking. His eyes were enlarged by his thick glasses that perched at the end of his nose, giving him an almost owlish appearance. He wore a long, thick cloak that pooled around the floor, covering whatever he had on under it. She had hear rumors about him- that he had once been a powerful chuunin before he had gotten a leg blown off. But that was only a rumor… right? She shook her head as he glanced over the crowd before glaring down at the clipboard.

"So. You punks think you have what it takes to be an official shinobi of Konoha, huh? Well, this is your last exam. Blow this, and you're stuck at the academy for another year. Any questions?" He barked, only to be met by thirteen stunned, shaking heads. He smirked before continuing. "Fine. That said, you'll be called in Alphabetical order. Starting in one minute." He slowly shuffled back into the back room, and as soon as the door was closed, everyone started to silently panic.

Sachi was reviewing notes in the back of her mind, softly running her hands through her short pink hair as she kept her eyes squeezed shut, ignoring everything except for the calling of names.

"Aburame Shibi."

There was some light footsteps, followed but an almost inaudible sliding of the door. Then silence again for another twenty minutes. The door opened again as Shibi made his way out of the room, no signs of his success or failure evident.

"Akamitchi Choza."

The names continued again, calling Ayane, until the fourth name was called. A small tremor of terror went through the petite, pink-haired child.

"Haruno Sachi."

She took a deep breath as she stood up, ignoring the small thumbs-up sign Arashi was giving her as she stepped down the stairs. Every footfall seemed to echo, driving her mad as her anxiety built upon itself. She trembled as she stood in front of the door before she silently pushed it open, closing it behind her.

She blinked as she peered at the other instructor, a young, dark-skinned man with a pleasant face who looked like he was about to smile at any moment. Quite a contrast from Boku-sensei.

"Uh… who're you?" Sachi asked after a moment of confusion. Taiboku-sensei just scowled at her, but the new instructor laughed.

"I'm Umino Mako. I'm sort of Taiboku-san's teaching assistant. I just started today, so I'm supposed to help with the exams." He said, giving her another grin. She managed a small smile herself before she slipped into a basic stance.

"Create two clones." Taiboku simply said, glaring at her through his glasses. Sachi nodded before making the proper handsign.

"Bushin no jutsu!" She said quietly, coughing lightly at the smoke produced as she replicated. The mirror images stood as a perfect copy of herself, posing in the exact same stance.

Boku-sensei nodded. "Good. They're acceptable. Now for the second part."

Sachi blanched as she stared ahead at Boku-sensei and Mako-sensei. "Second part?" She squeaked, clasping her hands together nervously. She stiffened as Boku-sensei smirked, standing up.

"This part is easy. Sachi- why do you want to become a ninja? Answer carefully." He said quietly, making the young, pink-haired girl blink

"Why? Well, there's a lot of reasons… To follow in my father's footsteps, to prove I'm strong… but most of all, to help protect those who can't protect themselves. Even if that means killing." Sachi said, blinking again as she saw a small, rough smile on Boku-sensei's aged face.

"Very good. You pass, little Haruno. Here's your forehead protector." The ancient teacher said before handing her the symbol of a ninja. She held it in her hands delicately, afraid that it wasn't real.

"Now, go outside and be quiet until all the others have finished, pass or fail. Then you may all go home. Come back here tomorrow at nine o'clock sharp." Mako-sensei said to her quietly, giving her a small smile. She nodded, slipping the forehead protector into the pocket of her loose white shorts before she exited the room, doing her best to maintain a somber, strait face.

Almost two hours later, the entire class stood in front of the school, talking loudly amongst themselves. Only eleven had graduated- All but Koza and Ayane. Now the speculations fell on what sensei's they would have, what teams they would be on. It was the first step of one of the greatest legends ever known. If only they knew, when they parted ways to celebrate with their families, what path lay before them. They were ninja now.

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A/N: **Okay, yes this is slightly Alternate Universe. I always kinda wanted to do a story in which the parents were explained more, give them a bit of back story. And here we go! It's alternate universe because not all the ages are compatible, and some of the teams just weren't formed from what I can see. In any event, tell me if you loved it, hated it, thought it could use some work… Just, please, constructive criticism! 

Chapter one is about half-way done. I need beta readers! And the teams are already decided on. Have fun guessing the white-haired teenager…


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